NUGENT: Attracting the Latino vote

Due to ever-shifting demographics, Americans of Latin descent are being courted by both the Republican and Democratic parties. The party that wins their support will be in the political driver’s seat come November. The Democrats currently own that seat.

In the 2008 presidential election, the Obama-Biden team won the Latino vote by more than a 2-to-1 margin over McCain-Palin.

President Obama currently has a commanding lead over former Gov. Mitt Romney in Latino support. There is little doubt the president will spend millions of dollars trying to ensure that support does not erode before the November election, especially in Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.

The first order of business for Mr. Romney should be to let Latinos know that the GOP wants all people to succeed to the very best of their abilities, unencumbered by the heavy and draconian foot of Fedzillacrats who believe they know what is best for people.

Mr. Romney should relentlessly hammer away at Mr. Obama’s dismal record of creating jobs and improving the American economy.

The unemployment rate among Latinos stands at 11 percent, which is much higher than the national average. Mr. Romney must continue to remind Latinos that improving the economy is key to improving their livelihood. He should tell them that Mr. Obama’s economic policies are a complete disaster and that the president has failed them miserably.

Mr. Romney should continue to press for education reform, and remind Latino voters that education is vital to success. He should illustrate the importance that Americans of Asia-Pacific descent place on education and how fast their children move into the middle class. It doesn’t have to be an Asian thing.

He should praise Latinos for their strong work ethic and remind them that this work ethic coupled with an education is an unstoppable combination that will catapult them into the middle class and beyond.

Mr. Romney should also hammer away at the welfare state that Democrats have largely created and continue to support. He should tell Latinos the welfare state is fiscally unsustainable and creates dependence instead of independence. Mr. Romney has little to lose by illustrating how Fedzilla has wreaked untold havoc on black America.

Immigration is a topic central to Latinos. Mr. Romney has to address this and illustrate the differences between his immigration policies and the president’s policies of ignoring or selectively enforcing U.S. laws.

The governor should clearly state how the GOP supports and strongly encourages legal immigration but does not support amnesty or creating a system whereby illegal immigration is encouraged and rewarded. He should remind Latinos and other prospective immigrants that he supports an express-immigration policy through which America wants to attract the best and brightest immigrants from around the world. Legally.

Mr. Romney should continue to remind Latinos that the GOP is not anti-immigration or racist as the Democrats have said and will continue to blather. Rather, the GOP supports legal immigration just like many other nations who often have much stricter immigration policies than the United States, including Mexico.

The key to attracting Latino voters is to appeal to their sense of independence and to inform them the GOP believes in the power of the individual, not Fedzilla whose track record is one of dependence and destruction.

There is a reason America still offers the greatest quality of life in the world and how the GOP wants to continue and enhance the system by which this has always been made possible. Not to be confused with the Democrat model of another Euro train wreck.

Ted Nugent is an American rock ‘n’ roll, sporting and political activist icon. He is the author of “Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto” and “God, Guns & Rock ‘N’ Roll” (Regnery Publishing).